I see hundreds of people continue to give their time and money year after year. I see a room full of new volunteers starting their training every two months. I continue volunteering because it fills me with hope. With a bit of bad luck or a few bad choices, I could easily be in crisis myself. Over time, after talking to so many different people from all walks of life, I see that there is very little that separates me from them. At first, I saw myself as a helper, someone who was very different from the people who needed help. It is also okay to sometimes feel like it's all too much, but I will keep trying to do my best, working towards a well-functioning multicultural society, where everyone feels safe to be themselves.“I started volunteering at the Crisis Centre 10 years ago because I was tired of simply observing suffering in my community. We all live in the same city and we are mostly in the same stage of life, just trying to enjoy it to the fullest. Some situations still feel challenging sometimes, such as being the only one that doesn’t speak a certain language, but I am slowly learning to accept our differences and focus on the parts that unite us. Learning to love all cultures and be willing to submerge myself in them. I am learning about foods, traditions, music and so much more. With those friendships also comes insight, the true kind of insight about a country and not the information that is fed to us by the media. These past few months, I have been very lucky to meet people from countries all over the world and form many friendships. After I let go of my own insecurities, I saw how incredibly rewarding it can be to learn about each culture and the history behind it. I had to accept that some things are not okay in my culture but are okay in other cultures and vice versa, but that is the fun part: learning together. Every culture is different and so is every person from a specific culture or country. I will be honest, though: some things were hard to accept at first. In my experience, the best way to get used to a multicultural society is to fully let go. Everyone is trying to fit in and do their best in teaching others about their country, so what can we do to make ourselves more comfortable and open to new experiences and knowledge? How do I react to certain situations? What is okay to do and say, and what is not? When do I come off as introverted and when do I come off as cold? These are things I am learning as I go.Īt first, it was very overwhelming to be in a room full of people, each having their own mannerisms and ways of talking, and sometimes even talking multiple languages at once. I noticed that people in the Netherlands are much more open than in my part of the world and it scared me a bit at first. Studying in Utrecht proposed to me a challenge – to get out of my shell and comfort zone. Coming here, I was expecting something totally different, and I got it. I come from an Eastern European country where people are mostly shy and introverted. There is just one downside to a multicultural society, however: it can be a bit overwhelming. I am really enjoying studying at a university with so many different cultures, learning something new every day not only from my friends and classmates, but other students online as well. People from all around the world come to meet in this country and bring their cultures with them. One of the most brilliant things about Utrecht and the Netherlands is the diversity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |